English art terms that you may want to know

News24xx.com - When going to art museums or exhibitions, you often hear people using some terms that seems strange or opaque. Critics usually use certain terms when analyzing arts. Here are some terms in English about arts that you may want to know when you want to discuss about arts.

1.       Canon (Canonical)

Sometimes written as “canon” or “cannon”, the word comes from Greek word Kanon, which means measuring rod or model. The term first referred to Christianity accepted guidelines. The parts of the Bible considered to be the word of God are considered canon or canonical. As time went by, the term started being used in other fields like literature, music, geography and art. Today, it generally means established works, theories or individuals that form the backbone of a particular discipline or genre.

2.       Figurative

The word “figurative” is an adjective used for artworks that show identifiable real life objects or subject, including human figure. In noun, it is called “figuration”, “representation” or “representational art”. Figurative arts were very popular before the birth of modernism, which preferred abstract arts. Back then, all the paintings portrayed objects or subjects that appeared in real world. In 20th century, where people pursued abstraction, figurative arts were dismissed.

3.       Foreshortening

Foreshortening is a technique to depict a three-dimensional object in two-dimensional artwork. It is used by adjusting the scale of an object’s part’s to convey variation of depth. An example is the depiction of Jesus in The Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna. He made the subject’s feet larger and his head smaller and shortened the limbs and body to make it seem receding backward.

4.       Masterpiece

Masterpiece is an art that is considered impressive. However, it is related to art historical canon. Masterpieces are arts that have been displayed, fawned over and written about for decades. The term has been criticized by some scholars as it is still largely related to Western, white and male.

 

 

News24xx.com/fik/red